• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Opportunity to Learn
byMichael D. King
"The single most important factor in predicting whether or not a teacher willbe effective is whether the curriculum that is delivered to students in theirclassrooms is linked logically or empirically to the outcomes that are desired."1 The heart of the proposition presented above is a concern with what issometimes called curriculum alignment, the congruence of the curriculumwith the outcome, the overlap of the curriculum with outcomes, or as it ismost commonly called, opportunity to learn. (Carroll, 1963; Cooley andLeinhardt, 1980).
Minimum Guaranteed Curriculum
 The Minimum Guaranteed Curriculum means assuring that the material taught inthe school matches the standards and assessments set by the state or district forspecific grade levels. It is a way of "mapping" the curriculum onto the standards tobe sure that the school is teaching the content that is expected. In states that usetests to assess student mastery, schools may also align their curriculum with thecontent of the test to assure that students have studied the required content beforetaking the tests.Increasing demands for accountability mean that schools must document that theyare achieving the objectives mandated by state standards. Whatever themechanism, standards are deeply imbedded in public opinion and state law. Theyare not going away any time soon. Standards have become a very high stakes issuein public education. Today, more than ever before, educators are faced with the idea that in order toimprove instruction, they will need to create newer, faster and better systems toassess their schools strengths and weaknesses. Educators are now responsible forgathering an array of measures, including formative academic assessments,attendance rates, suspension rates, public opinion ratings, and school climatesurveys. Educators must determine how they will assess progress and planinstruction that expands beyond the data achieved through state-standardizedtesting. New National and State school accountability reports are now includingsuch indicators as attendance rates, suspension rates, at risk student performancerates, and student and community perceptions of school safety.
 
 To accomplish the growing demand on data retrieval, educators will need to rethinktheir approaches to the gathering of accountability data, and how they will use thatdata, for the improvement of student learning. The day has arrived when educatorswill need to have the skills necessary in making multi-measure data useful in thefacilitation of change. To facilitate positive changes, the educators will need anumber of data analysis tools for tracking the school improvement process. Suchdata analysis tools would include monitoring curriculum delivery, measuring studentperformances through content analysis, tracking at-risk student performance, andproviding real-time student assessment information.
No Child Left Behind and Accountability
 The issue of outcomes accountability is one of the oldest issues faced in education.Determining what knowledge is of most worth sparks continuous debate. Because of the complexity of the issue and the difficulty of adequately resolving thesefundamentally philosophic questions, schools and teachers within the same districtmay not share the belief that particular standards are expected for students at agiven grade or given course. When schools’ and teachers’ share no common beliefsabout what constitutes a desired set of skills for a particular grade or course, theissue of effective schooling or effective teaching is irrelevant. The present notion tooffset this irrelevant notion of school and teacher effectiveness is now morerelevant than ever as legislation begins to promote higher degrees of accountability.In essence, the new No Child Left Behind Act requires schools to make clearer judgments on curriculum delivery and the measurement of individual obtainment of specific skills. As quoted from the Official U.S. Department of Education Website,“Under No Child Left Behind, each state must measure every public school student’sprogress in reading and math in each of grades 3 through 8 and at least once duringgrades 10 through 12. In the school year 2007-2008, assessments (or testing) inscience are now well underway. These assessments must be aligned with stateacademic content and achievement standards. They will provide parents withobjective data on where their child stands academically.” 1Under the new standards of the No Child Left Behind Act, effective schooling isassessed by judging whether classroom or schooling process are related to theintentions of the state in terms of curriculum delivery. School districts or individualschools now caught with a curriculum guide and a state test that are not carefullymatched to each other are in great trouble as they report their effectiveness to boththe state and their communities. Now more than ever, it will be important for
 
schools to grasp the idea of alignment to state standards. It will be a critical factorto school effectiveness reporting and should be noted that it will be impossible forteachers and schools to be found effective if they teach one thing and find thestudents tested on another. If students are to take a test that will be used to judgethe schools effectiveness then students must have the opportunity to learn what itis that is on the test.Sensible discussion of effectiveness cannot be measured unless the skills andknowledge of instruction are convergent to the desires and responsibilities of teachers to give each child an opportunity to learn the skills desirable. Anyachievement test used as an indicator of school effectiveness must be linkedlogically to the curriculum that is delivered. The meaning of an opportunity to learnis when students are successfully engaged in task that is related to skills they willbe assessed on in the future.
Curriculum Mapping
One method of real-time reporting of curriculum expectations is to developcurriculum-mapping software that integrates effective teaching practices asordinances for tracking time engaged on individual curriculum standards. This typeof software program, once developed, would make provisions for an evaluativemeans by which teachers can analyze the curriculum as it is delivered in a real-timeformat. This type of curriculum reporting would give teachers and curriculumdesigners insurance that students receive a balanced instructional program. Real-time assessment and evaluation of student achievement could provide teacherswith an opportunity to think critically about their choice of content and the overalleffectiveness of instruction. Real-time reporting of curriculum progression wouldprovide the necessary frameworks for teachers and principals to systematicallyreview course content, instructional strategies, and assessment procedures to makeidentified program changes to improve student learning. One method for managingthe real-time assessment of curriculum would be to design a curriculum-mappingmodel that blends both content decision-making with effective instructional deliverystrategies.Procedures for developing real-time curriculum mapping strategies is a simpleprocess that can be achieved by using software packages now made available onmost home computers. One example of a home software program that could be
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...